Great teams need great coaches. The behind-the-scenes crew might not always get the fame and glory, but come Judgment of the Light, coaches are ready to take center stage with Coach Soldier Wolfbark and Coach Captain Bearman! They’re the perfect way to enhance Fire King or Fire Fist Decks and give them access to the legendary Coach King Giantrainer!

Our starter will be Coach Soldier Wolfbark. Wolfbark is great at inspiring his teammates, even those who’ve fallen in battle! Once per turn, you can have Wolfbark Special Summon one Level 4 FIRE Beast-Warrior from your Graveyard. It’ll come back in defense position with its effects negated, but that’s not always a bad thing.

Wolfbark does more than just double up with more copies of itself. He’s a team player! If you’re looking for players to pair with Coach Wolfbark, your first choices ought to be the Fire Fists and Fire Kings. Each group is FIRE-based, and has plenty of Beast-Warriors to choose from. With Fire Fists, Wolfbark gives you quick and easy access to Brotherhood of the Fire Fist – Tiger King without relying on Rescue Rabbit. As for the Fire Kings, you can revive Fire King Avatar Barong or Fire King Avatar Yaksha. You can then perform an Xyz Summon, or leave your Fire King on the field. Since the Fire Kings activate in the Graveyard, they won’t be negated by Wolfbark when they’re destroyed. Both of these strategies can utilize Fire Formation – Tenki already, and Coach Soldier Wolfbark is yet another option for them to search for.

While Wolfbark is in the middle of it all barking orders, Coach Captain Bearman is our head coach. Rather than getting in the middle of it all, he hangs back until it’s time to make a power play. There are three facets to Coach Captain Bearman:

-You can Normal Summon Bearman without Tributing. If you do that, his ATK becomes 1300.

-You can modify all Level 4 Beast-Warriors you control, changing them all to Level 8.

-Bearman cannot be used for an Xyz Summon, unless it is for a FIRE Warrior-type Xyz Monster.

Bearman works best when Wolfbark has been doing his job, so try to bring Wolfbark and Bearman to the field together. By using Bearman’s effect, you can make Wolfbark and your revived monster become Level 8! That leaves you free to use those two monsters (not Bearman) to Summon any generic Rank 8 monster you like, such as Number 107: Galaxy-Eyes Tachyon Dragon. Alternatively, use Rekindling instead of Wolfbark, and you can flood the field with Beast-Warriors for multiple Rank 8 Xyz Monsters!

But, remember that last line on Bearman’s text? That prevents you from using Bearman in this combo for a generic three-material Xyz Monster. You’ve got to find a Rank 8 FIRE Warrior-type Xyz Monster. Luckily for you, there’s yet another coach monster to be found in Number Hunters: Coach King Giantrainer! With Giantrainer in your Extra Deck, you can use a Bearman + Wolfbark/Rekindling combo to bring out Giantrainer, draw up to three cards, and deal some damage at the same time! If you want to take it another step, you could even use Rank-Up Magic Barian’s Force to upgrade to CXyz Coach Lord Ultimatrainer, but that might just be too awesome. You gotta pace yourself.

If you’ve got some Fire Fists or Fire Kings that need a little coaching, keep an eye out for Wolfbark and Bearman in Judgment of the Light!